The London Lounge

Dear Gentlemen,

In response to Robb and Spinola's comments regarding Kielman in the 'Vass shoes" thread:

The shoe gallery featured in Jan Kielman's website focuses on the traditional Kielman house style dating back from the 19th Century and the Austro-Hungarian school of design. This is a style that has many devotees (myself included) but also regarded by many people as an acquired taste, in particular shoe enthusiasts who prefer the more elongated and delicate English proportions. Personally I love both styles. I prefer the Austro-Hungarian look for more casual shoes and ultimate comfort, and the English style for town suit dress and formal wear.

After getting acquainted with Kielman's capabilities, it was clear to me that their fully hand-made process provides the necessary flexibility to produce elongated lasts and close welting, the 2 basic ingredients of the English style. So I asked for some English style shoes (not low-slung to the max as I wanted to keep some depth at the toe puff), and I am quite happy with the results. As it is not their intrinsic house style, the customer has to provide the necessary information via pictures, or design the last with the master maker at their premises, in order to obtain an English shoe, made in Poland, so to speak.

I have expressed Mr. Kielman (who is a master craftsman himself) the fact that many people don't find his online shoe gallery interesting. He just told me he is preparing a new website, where examples of his English-style shoes will be displayed.

If some members would like to see pictures of my shoes, feel free to PM me.

Best regards,
Miguel

Edit: Gentlemen I apologize, I wanted to post my message in the topic "Vass Shoes" but clicked the wrong button.

Thanks, Miguel, this is much of the information I sought.

Two additional questions: first, how did learn of Kielman? second, what fittings, etc., did you go through -- in short, what were the processes for the first pair and for subsequent pairs you commissioned? The company interests me, principally for financial reasons, but the idea of going to Warsaw several times in a year when I've no other cause to visit Poland is a bit daunting for this American.

Dear Robb and Gentlemen,

I wrote a full report on Kielman a while back, but it was deleted due to a technical glitch that has now been fixed by Michael. I am happy to write again.

I learned about Kielman from a German friend of mine. In Germany, they enjoy a good reputation.

Kielman normally takes the measurements of the client and performs a fitting in as little as 2 weeks, but only during the easiest seasons, as Kielman is a very small firm with only 10 craftsmen, and all operations, even the carving of shoe trees, are done in house. Normally it would take about a month. Some years ago I needed some dress shoes, and having very difficult feet and unable to find anything that fits properly in RTW, I decided to work with Kielman through snail mail, telephone, and email.

As per his website, Mr. Kielman is willing to work with foot outlines and measurements provided by the client. But unless the client is very meticulous with the information
provided, there is margin for errors. I sent several pictures of my feet from different angles and with the tape measure on my feet so that he could see exactly where the
measurements were taken at, took a host of other measurements, not specified
on his instructions, in addition to the foot outlines. I have some orthopedic requirements due to my fallen arches, so some notes and pictures focused on these issues. It required lots of work and patience from both parties, but being quite enthusiastic about the process and shoes, it went smoothly for us.

When I got my first pair, it was evident that all efforts paid off, the first pair fitted very well, far better than any RTW shoe I had tried, with great orthopedia built in, but needed some adjustments at the heel opening (my heels are very narrow compared to the front part), so I sent the shoes back and came back fitting almost perfectly. As I
ordered more shoes, the fit was refined a bit each time using pictures and
descriptions, and information from the previous, broken-in shoes. After 6
shoes, I think we have now reached the optimum.

In terms of styling and materials, Kielman basically says yes to anything
you want. Hence, the customer must use good judgment! For skin selection,
they can get almost everything (from fine French calf to very rare exotics) and will send samples for the client to choose. I envisioned my shoes from
pictures of several other shoes plus my own modifications and we worked with
pictures and descriptions. I would say all shoes came pretty close to the
designs I desired. However, it requires lots of work and patience to describe last shapes from a distance. I plan to visit them at the end of year, because I want to design
a new last for my future shoes.

Maciek Kielman and his wife Monika are very nice people and are passionate
about their job. I highly recommend working with Kielman from a distance only
if you have the time and desire to go through the difficult and perhaps
tedious process of exchanging lengthy emails, phone calls, taking the
pictures, etc. I enjoyed the process, but this might not work for everyone.
Best strategy is to go to Warsaw. When I go, I will write a full report!

Best regards,

Miguel

I am looking at the online order page, and there are a couple different pricings shown; I'm wondering if you could shed some light on this. Is the range US$250-600 as described in one place, or is it EU400-700 as described in another?

(my suspicion is, it's the latter. But I thought I would ask anyway.)

/Andrew

Thanks, Miguel, for an interesting and even enheartening post. I respect your confidence in measuring yourself but doubt I would have the same confidence. It looks as though I must book a flight for Poland if I'm to sample Kielman's wares!

Dear Sirs,

Andrew, it seems like Kielman forgot to delete the 2002 prices. My first pairs fell in the middle of that old price range.

The second price list is current, calf shoes and ankle boots start from Euro 400, and the 700 Euro price point corresponds to longer boots. Rendenbach soles may increase prices a bit.

Robb, I look forward to visiting them later this year and will write a review. In any event, if you decide to go to Warsaw, I am sure you'll be in for a treat with Kielman.

Cheers,
Miguel

Miguel -

Thanks for the clarification.

per xe.com, the range in US$ is $516-900.

-Andrew